The Mississippi Foothills area has long been known for producing deer and lots of them. But lately a marauder has come onto the scene and its not been welcomed by most folks. Wild hogs have suddenly come in with a flourish and are found all over the area. From Clarke, Wayne and Jasper counties to Lauderdale, Newton and Kemper, the multi colored hogs are rooting up ground, destroying crops, fields and gardens and generally eating as much of the deer mast as they can get their snouts on.

    In recent days reports of hog sightings have been coming in from Chunky, Suqualena and the Martin communities. Mikayla Giles had such an encounter during a recent deer hunt. Giles was hunting near Chunky when she harvested a doe which provided succulent smoked venison sausage.

    Because the deer dropped in her tracks Mikayla decided to wait awhile and see if more deer would come in. She’d already passed on a couple of small six point bucks a few times over the previous days. About 15 minutes after her successful kill she was startled to see something coming towards our stand.

    “There’s a hog,” she said excitedly. Sure enough, two wild hogs were running towards us in a straight line which would take them within 40 yards of our stand. As the second coal black hog came out from behind a couple of trees, Mikayla took aim and squeezed off the trigger of her Marlin 7mm 08 rifle and knocked the hog down with a well-placed shot. It was the first such hog she’d ever seen in the woods.

    A few days later local residents of Martin spotted hogs in the area near the old Martin ball field close to Justin Giles home. Giles, a Mississippi State engineering student, is an avid deer and duck hunter and never misses a chance on hunting something  new, exotic or exciting. Giles made plans to go deer and hog hunting over the Thanksgiving holidays just as soon as school was out.

    Giles had spotted a few hogs on game camera photos and was chomping at the bit for some fresh smoked hog sausage from Van’s Deer Processing in Brandon.

    It didn’t take long for the young hunter to find fresh hog sign; rooting and game camera pictures. He took a stand high in an elevated deer stand. About an hour later the hogs started pouring into the acorn flat around a green field.

    Hogs are very destructive and really have no redeeming value, except for their value as smoked sausage and are considered nuisances by the department of wildlife and thus are fair game for any hunters. Giles had been in the stand a short time when the hogs began filtering into the oak flat where he was hunting. Finally several black hogs and a brown one were feeding near his stand.

    Taking aim at the nearest black hog, Giles squeezed off a shot from his Browning rifle and the hog dropped instantly dead in his tracks. But a funny thing happened then. The hog directly behind the first one also collapsed and died a short distance later. Young Giles had not only harvested the first hog of his life but had killed two with one shot. In the process he’d made a lifetime memory and secured some fresh hog meat for some of that succulent smoked sausage!

    Contact  Mike Giles at 601-917-3898

or e-mail him at mikegiles18@comcast.net